North Caucasus this week (from 20th to 25th of July)

25 Jul 2015 in 20:16 Oleg Kusov. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

On July 22nd the Minister for the North Caucasus, Lev Kuznetsov, participated in the opening of a new complex for the cultivation, storage, processing, packaging and marketing of about 75 tons of fresh vegetables a year in the Prokhladnensky region of Kabardino-Balkaria. According to the minister, Prokhlsndoe LLC is one of 39 basic and priority investment agricultural projects aimed at solving the problems of import substitution.

Roskomstat reported information on the cost of food baskets in the North Caucasus region. According to estimates, the cheapest basket of Kabardino-Balkaria is almost 3384 rubles. The most expensive in Ingushetia is almost 3848 rubles.

Since the beginning of the year unemployment increased by 15.8% in Ingushetia. The unemployment rate in the country is 31.3% of the total working population.

In Dagestan on September 13th the day of single voting is being held in 604 municipal election campaigns. In the course of the election the fate of 6111 mandates of deputies of representative bodies of local self-government will be determined.

For three days the relics of the Baptist of Rus – the Apostolic Grand Duke Vladimir – were in Kazan Cathedral in Stavropol. Before that they were in Nalchik, Cherkessk and Pyatigorsk, where a church was built in honor of the Grand Duke.

Ramzan Kadyrov invited Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey Ismet Yilmaz to visit Chechnya. The Speaker accepted the invitation and noted the importance of strengthening relations with Russia and its regions.

Several delegations from Saudi Arabia are going to visit Chechnya this year. A series of visits is to take place in September, such as by the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom, who intends to examine the situation. Then the arrival of delegations headed by the Minister of Religious Affairs and the heads of the investment fund KSA is expected. The agreement on the visits was reached between the Head of the Chechen Republic and the Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

11 people died as a result of a passenger 'Gazelle' falling 200 meters off a cliff in the Vvedeno district of Chechnya. Six people were seriously injured. Residents of the Dagestani village of Andi returning from a funeral in the town of Khasavyurt were in a minibus. In Dagestan and Chechnya July 23th was a day of mourning for those who died in the road accident.

On July 23 a group of militants was surrounded at night in one of the apartments of a nine-apartment building on 47 Shogentsukova Prospect in Nalchik. As a result, during a raid by the security forces the whole group of five people was destroyed.

The former head of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Ingushetia and six of his subordinates in the North Caucasus Federal District Prosecutor General's Office have been accused of defrauding an especially large amount of money. According to investigators, a group of officials worked out a scheme for stealing 34 million rubles from the budget, but their actions were disclosed by members of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia's own security.

From 22 to 24 of July Grozny hosted an international youth conference "I am a patriot!", which was attended by public figures and representatives of the Chechen community. At the forum, participants discussed two topics: "Chechens after 25 years" and "Chechens after 50 years."

Ivan Bagaev was detained in Moscow on July 20th as a member of Aslan Gagiev's gang, who at the beginning of 2015 was extradited from Montenegro, the press service of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported. Bagaev will be transported to North Ossetia, as he is accused of preparing and committing a number of high-profile murders in the republic, including of the Deputy Prime Minister Kazbek Pagiev in 2008.

A rockfall occurred on the night of July 21st in the Agul district of Dagestan. As a result, 18 villages were left without transport links. This is the second rockfall on the same road in July of this year.

The traditional international equestrian expedition "In the footsteps of General Emmanuel" started on the 21th of July from the Square of Abkhazia in Nalchik. The trip was organized by the regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society. Seven riders passed through Chegem, Malka, Baksan Gorge in order to promote hard-to-access attractions in Kabardino-Balkaria.

In many Russian regions chewing gum has appeared with images and inscriptions with an Islamic theme on its wrappers. In Dagestan the chewing gum 'Samir's and Fouad's Family' is being produced. The creators of the product explain what it means to be a happy family and that we should honor our parents, care about each other, and not miss prayers.
More than 10 thousand citizens of Ukraine have arrived in Stavropol Territory in the past six months, almost two thousand of them are children. The flow of migrants to the territory has increased in comparison with last year.

This autumn Chechnya is to start supplying products to the Sverdlovsk region, mainly, fruits, vegetables and meat.

The RF President's Plenipotentiary Representative to the North Caucasus Federal District announced a competition in order to identify the cultural capital of the region in 2015. The document contains 13 criteria, according to which a special commission will choose the winner at the end of the year.

On July 21st Ingushetia was visited by the heir of the House of Romanov, Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich. His six-day visit to the Republic is associated with the 245th anniversary of entering Ingushetia in Russia. The Grand Duke met with the leaders of Ingushetia and representatives of the public.